Arabian Gulf cities will house 85 per cent of the region’s population by 2020, according to figures released by the United Nations, with urban populations growing fastest in the UAE and Qatar.
The UAE’s urban population will grow to 7.9 million by 2020, an average annual growth of 2.3 per cent from 2010-20, according to the World Urbanization Prospects report by the UN department of economic and social affairs. City dwellers in the UAE will account for 86.7 per cent of the country’s population by 2020, up from 84 per cent in 2010, the report found.
The GCC’s urban population is forecast to grow to 45.1 million by 2020, a 24.9 per cent increase on 2010’s figures. The region’s rural population, by contrast, is forecast to grow by just 7.3 per cent to 7.6 million during the same period. By 2020 city dwellers will account for 85 per cent of the region’s population, up from just under 84 per cent in 2010.
Urbanisation trends in the GCC are in line with those in the wider Mena region, according to the UN. More than 226 million people will be living in cities throughout Mena by 2020, as predominantly youthful populations gravitate toward cities in search of improved work opportunities and better lifestyles.
City dwellers will account for nearly 62 per cent of the Mena region’s total population by 2020, with a 2 per cent average annual urbanisation growth rate across the region until the end of the decade, the report forecasts.
The region’s fastest urbanisation growth is forecast to occur in Sudan, the country in the region with the largest percentage of rural dwellers. Sudan’s urban population is forecast to grow by 2.7 per cent on average to 2020, by which time its urban dwelling population will still account for only 35 per cent of its total population.
Lebanon is forecast to experience the slowest growth in its urban population, with an average annual growth of just 0.7 per cent forecast by the UN.
The UN forecasts nearly 4.3 billion people will live in cities by 2020, representing 56 per cent of the world’s population.
Urbanisation in 2020 is expected to be highest in North America (84.1 per cent), Latin America and the Caribbean (81.5 per cent) and Europe (74.9 per cent). Africa will be the only major region of the world where the population is predominantly rural, with just 43.2 per cent of its population living in cities.
Ensuring a city's well-being, growth and development in the face of massive urban migration will be among the key topics to be discussed at the Future Cities conference in Dubai from October 8-10.
The conference, which will run alongside the Cityscape Global exhibition, is organised jointly by the Dubai Municipality, Environment Centre for Arab Towns, the Arab Towns Organisation, and Informa Exhibitions.
Topics to be addressed during the three-day event will include issues such as security concerns, waste and water management, transport, energy management, disaster relief and green building.
Future Cities – supported by Commercial Bank of Dubai as official banking sponsor and Lab Createrics as sponsor – will explore the major issues facing world leaders and urban planning experts, including how cities carry out efficient water distribution, the positive impact tourism can have on the environment, how cities can plan for post-recession development, and what strategies can ensure that energy is affordable for everyone.
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Where to submit a sample
Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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MATCH DETAILS
Liverpool 2
Wijnaldum (14), Oxlade-Chamberlain (52)
Genk 1
Samatta (40)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
